The invention relates to venting arrangements for dispensing bottles, and specifically to a sealing gasket for a squeeze bottle dispenser which includes venting valves.
There are several different techniques for dispensing a fluid substance in a fine mist. One technique is to provide a resilient dispensing bottle with an outlet orifice such that as the bottle is squeezed by a user, pressure builds up within the container. The pressure in the container forces any liquid within the container out a dispensing orifice, which can be structured to produce a fine mist of liquid. Often, however, it is difficult to arrive at a particularly fine mist in such a dispenser solely through the use of a shaped orifice. Furthermore, the conventional means for providing an outlet valve--a ball valve--is generally expensive to manufacture, thus increasing the cost of the dispenser to the end user.
A technique used to eliminate some of the above disadvantages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,186, which is incorporated herein by reference. In this invention, a squeeze bottle has a liquid flow path and an air flow path. When the bottle is squeezed, liquid is transmitted through the liquid flow path and pressurized air through the air flow path. These two flows meet in a mixing chamber which is located adjacent an outlet orifice. The air and liquid mix to form a fine spray. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that it requires the use of a relatively expensive ball valve for the liquid outlet, and liquid will leak out of the dispenser when the bottle is inverted, because the air path is completely open to fluid flow.